Whistleblower admits to being wanted in US - The West Australian

The whistleblower who sparked two inquiries into allegations of fraud at Peel Health Campus has admitted to being wanted for identity theft and fraud in the United States.

In the day The Weekend West revealed explosive new claims about Ashton Foley's background, the mother of four has made a confession to Channel Seven News.

Yesterday, Mrs Foley was still denying claims contained in a dossier sent to Premier Colin Barnett that she was arrested in the state of Georgia in 2008.

She denied being jailed for two months over fraud and identity theft allegations before being released on $8000 bail. She denied being a woman photographed for a police mug shot.

But in a dramatic twist, the former chief operating officer of the PHC in Mandurah, has completely changed her story.

"I was dishonest on the credit application," Mrs Foley said. "My twins were born three weeks after and a couple of weeks later I was arrested for having been dishonest on that credit application."

She told Seven News she was kept in custody because she was deemed a flight risk given she had never lived in Georgia and had most recently been living in Australia.

Yesterday, she insisted she was never in the US in 2008 and that her twins were born prematurely in Melbourne and stayed in hospital for several months.

Now, she has admitted the twins were born and treated in a US hospital before being released.

She said she made a decision to leave the US because her husband Wayne Foley was back in Australia and they wanted to be together.

"There was no court date set before I returned to Australia," she said.

She said she only became aware there was a bench warrant in the US this week. She said her decision to lie when quizzed by The Weekend West was driven by fear.

Mrs Foley, 40, is still denying other allegations that she doesn't have the university qualifications she claims. She still claims the 2008 run-in with the law is her only indiscretion.

The Weekend West revealed that Premeir Barnett had sent the dossier of claims against Mrs Foley to the Public Sector Commissioner for examination and has now signalled a delay to the inquiry he ordered into issues surrounding PHC.

Mrs Foley said she stands by her allegations about PHC despite her credibility being in tatters.

"What went on at Peel Health Campus was a disservice to the State, to the people who reside in that region and most importantly to the patients,' she said.

She said her decision to turn whistleblower and hand internal documents to Kwinana MP and Labor's health spokesman Roger Cook was to stop maladministration from continuing.

After appearing before a Parliamentary committee in November, Mrs Foley was praised for her courage and for putting the State above her own interests.